For readers who cannot get enough of Gaskell’s North & South love story, there comes a fresh variation…
Having barely kept Marlborough Mills afloat after a disastrous strike, John Thornton leads a group of fellow mill men to London in search of investors. His mentor, Mr. Adam Bell, not only brings forth men with money, but also introduces his lovely goddaughter, Margaret Hale.
In London, Margaret, still mourning the death of her mother, is shocked to learn her father has left his respectable position as a clergyman. He plans, instead, to accept Mr. Bell’s offer and move to the industrial town in the north, Milton, and become headmaster at an exclusive boys’ school.
Thrown together by chance or Mr. Bell’s cunning, Margaret and John develop a deep attraction to each other during his London trip. Raised as a very proper lady in the highest social circles, Margaret is hesitant to leave all the splendor of London for a town her Aunt Shaw has described as dismal and filthy. Her aunt is also not keen on Margaret developing a tendre for a common tradesman. Yet, despite her aunt’s opposition, Margaret agrees to visit Milton, for she knows her father’s low spirits will worsen if she does not, and also, she has a future with the handsome John Thornton to consider.
Margaret’s arrival in the north is not without pitfalls: John’s indomitable mother has already hand-picked another woman to be John’s wife; an impending, violent strike at Marlborough Mills threatens her safety, and Margaret sees poverty unlike she could ever imagine.
Despite what Margaret’s heart feels, her head tells her that Milton may not be the place for her. How will she ever fit in? As she and John fall in love, how can she just leave him...and her father? With so much chaos surrounding them, will the love from Milton’s Mill Master be enough to make Margaret stay? Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation
Julia Daniels ☆ 4 Free download
Not much of a story
As the title said. It was ok, but nothing much added to the original story. There are much better N&S spin-offs. Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation
This story (as the book description tells us) takes the canon of this favorite novel and twists the events more than giving us new ones.
Margaret has been sent to London, to her Aunt Shaw, as her mother lies dying in Helstone. Mr. Hale joins them there after her death, having left the ministry position he had. Mr. Bell has offered him a position as the Headmaster in a boy's academy in Milton. In connection with that he wants the pair to meet the mill masters from Milton who will soon be arriving in London for the Great Exhibition. John Thornton is of special interest to Mr. Bell as he has mentored him, supported him and helped him out over the years since John's father's death.
In this variation it is love at first sight with some trials to follow. Mrs. Thornton does not approve, thinking that not only is Margaret of the class which looks down on tradesmen but also she doesn't come with a dowry of which John is in need. John's workers are on the verge of a strike and he already owes money to the bank. John's sister is at the point of looking for a groom...with money, and also wanting her brother to marry her best friend, Anne Latimer.
When Margaret and her father arrive in Milton to visit the academy and to decide if this position would suit they find some disturbing factors. First: the town is dirty and smog ridden, no green pastures or lanes to walk. Secondly and almost immediately the Hales are witness to physical conflict between Thornton and a worker. Margaret gets too close and is accidently struck unconscious. That injury leads to her meeting Bessie Higgins, a young worker who suffers from fluff on her lungs.
It was interesting to read of both John and Margaret making changes to fit into new levels of society. Then there is some scheming and manipulation going on as others also try to have their say in just who John should marry. Margaret seeks to continue the charity work she did in Helstone as a parson's daughter and finds many are aghast that she travels to that section of town with its criminal element and slum conditions.
All-in-all this was a sweet read but with the couple finding love in the early pages there was not much angst in that department. The events unfolded with few, if any, surprises.
I have to add that I found it rather OOC for John and Margaret to be sharing kisses and embraces very early in their relationship...no sense of how propriety was ignored here. Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation Sigh...
I live the original North and South, but I truly enjoyed this variation! I always felt sad that Margaret was alone in the world. I love how this story varies from cannon. Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation 3.5 rounded up - I mostly enjoyed this story, which has Margaret meeting John in London early and Mrs. Hale dying early while still in Helstone. There is an immediate spark and the couple courts quickly. It is a very sweet story and it’s nice to see them together and in love, although I think there was a lot of kissing for characters in Victorian England. But I’m no scholar on the subject!
There were a few things I didn’t like. First, the character changes were lessened due to their early love. Margaret seems to defer to John a lot more in this story. They still have class and poverty discussions, but I think Margaret is not as strong in this story. I also thought John’s character is different here suggesting the poor are lazy or unmotivated. While John thinks differently about the poor than M, I don’t think he feels that way in the book. He thinks they don’t understand the cost of business and economics. Frankly, he basically says some modern conservative talking points, which seemed out of place. Generally, I think John grew less here bc M didn’t challenge his ideas as much.
Also, there are some actions involving children in the family at the end that was not my favorite. I don’t want to give it away, but it’s not anything negative, just something I think would be difficult for people in the family to adjust to.
Finally, I think the writing for Mrs. Thornton is off. John has to talk to her repeatedly before she is remotely accepting of M. If M hadn’t refused John in the original, she was prepared to like her, so this level of dislike and flat out rudeness seems like too much, especially when it is in direct defiance to what John asked. Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation I thought to buy this book, but honestly I couldn't get passed the very obvious copyright infringement on the cover. North & South may be fully free to use as anyone pleases, but I very much doubt the author made even the attempt to obtain permission from the owners of the miniseries to use the actors' faces on her cover. This is not a fanfiction.net or AO3 story. This is a book for purchase, and so comes with many more restrictions. The author should have known better. Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation Hermosa historia! Milton's Mill Master: A North \u0026 South Variation
